


Dedicated To The Kids

by mediocrityatbest



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Human AU, Implied abuse, and nothing specific, but it is there, so read with caution, there is some, there's nothing graphic, title from Dedicated by Linkin Park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-28 18:58:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19400362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocrityatbest/pseuds/mediocrityatbest
Summary: Virgil’s never known anything but his grueling schedule. Now, he’s tasted freedom. He won’t give it up.





	Dedicated To The Kids

He was running.

The rain was splattering onto his face, more and more, mixing with the tears and pasting his hair to his head. His hoodie was so waterlogged it felt like a lead weight, and he eventually had to shed that, too. If he didn’t, they’d catch him. And that was the last thing he wanted.

_ What’s real is the kids who know that something’s wrong _

He could feel the concrete slamming into the bottom of his feet like he wasn’t wearing shoes. It didn’t matter, though. It couldn’t matter. He had to run despite the pain, he had to run to get away, he had to run to get where he was going.

Virgil was, for once, glad of the dark. Back where he had been, where he’d never go again, they had used the dark as a punishment. There were monsters in the dark and pain in the dark and fear in the dark. But out here, running into the night toward something that felt like it could be freedom, or a home, the dark felt kind of like safety.

_ What’s real is the kids who think they don’t belong _

Back at that place, the place Virgil would never go back to, they hated him. He wasn’t like the others, willing to work until he dropped. He wasn’t willing to endure their stupid, unfair punishments. He wasn’t willing to believe them when they said there was nothing else for them in this world. Virgil wasn’t willing, he’d  _ never _ be willing, to give up hope. Because there had to be something more out there than factories and orphanages.

His best friend, Logan, had been there too. He said there were laws about forcing them to work. He said that what those people were doing, wasn’t allowed. He said things were better outside. He said people cared, outside.

The people in charge didn’t like Logan much either, said he was too smart for his own good. Logan said they were wrong about that, too. You couldn’t be too smart, just smarter than the people who wanted to control you.

Virgil didn’t know about that, but he hoped Logan was right.

_ What’s real is the kids who have nowhere to run _

So, Virgil and Logan and a bunch of the others made a plan. They were gonna run for it. Virgil, because he was oldest and had been there longest, was going to go first. He was going to attract the attention of the guards, and then, while they were busy chasing Virgil down, everybody else would go. Hopefully, it would buy them enough time to get free.

Virgil had never been anywhere but the factory and the orphanage. He didn’t know where to go. He didn’t know where he was. But he could hear the sounds of the people behind him, shouting at him, splashing through puddles. He could hear them catching up.

Luckily for Virgil, despite his age, he was small. And he was light on his feet. And he was dressed in black.

_ Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun _

Virgil dived to the side, down an alley, and then rolled under the first thing he came into contact with. It felt like some sort of box.

He listened and held his breath as boots went stomping by. There was no reason for them to suspect he was hiding. They didn’t think he was smart enough for that.

The people who controlled that place were very. . .arrogant? That’s what Logan had called them, once. Logan had an advantage over pretty much everybody else because he hadn’t been raised there. He’d come to the orphanage when he was eleven, after he’d already been to a school. Unlike almost everybody else, Logan could read and knew things about the outside. It was his idea to run. He said there were people outside who would help them. He convinced everybody that if just one of them could get to help, everybody else would be saved too.

It sounded too good to be true to Virgil, who had lived his whole life under the lies. But he would believe Logan before those people anyday. So Virgil had helped Logan convince everyone to run. He had helped plan what they were going to do.

Virgil hadn’t really thought it would work. He was sure he would get caught as soon as they saw him leaving, sure he’d get the punishment again, sure he’d be put on extra work detail. Virgil had almost been too sure of failure to move.

But even the hope of getting out, even attempting to leave, was better than nothing.

And now that he’d got out, Virgil was never, ever going to go back.

_ Because say what you will and say what you might _

When the sounds of all the people were gone, Virgil crept back out of the alley and went back toward the orphanage. He turned down the first street he came to.

Logan had told him that there was a giant church in the middle of the city. It was huge, he said, and impossible to miss. He said good people were in the church, that they’d help them get away, help them get everyone else out.

Virgil wasn’t sure people like that existed. In his experience, people wanted what was good for themselves and that was all. They didn’t care about other people.

But Logan cared. He’d shown Virgil that time and again. Logan made sure everyone else was always okay and he even talked back to the people who ran the factory. Logan shared what he knew with people and told them stories of what the world outside was like.

And if Logan cared, well, he couldn’t be the only good person in the world, right? Virgil wasn’t sure, but he hoped, and that was enough to get him to believe Logan. Because if somebody could get them out, help them, then surely the only good person Virgil had ever met would know them.

_ But don’t ignore who it’s for at the end of the night _

So now Virgil was running down waterlogged streets in search of something he’d never seen before. Logan had promised it was too big to miss, had promised that Virgil would be able to find it and even if he couldn’t, then Logan would find him.

Virgil pushed his sopping hair out of his eyes. He’d never find the church if he couldn’t see.

He got to the next turn and went left. He hadn’t seen anything yet, and at some point he’d lost a shoe. They were ratty and destroyed anyway, worth less money than what they were made out of.

But that was just the way of the factory. Nothing fit right, and nothing was worth anything, including the ones working. Virgil knew by now that he wasn’t very smart, and he wasn’t worth much. But he’d gotten away from those people, and he was heading toward freedom, if he could find it. And that had to count for something, didn’t it?

Virgil felt more sure of himself walking down dark streets that he’d never seen before than he’d ever felt in the factory. And Virgil sort of felt like he was finally going somewhere.

_ Because this is dedicated to the kids _

He saw giant spire then, as a crack of lightning split the sky, and Virgil took off again, feet hitting the ground like the heartbeat of the earth.

It was so close, and it was  _ huge _ , easily bigger than the factory and way bigger than anything else Virgil had ever seen.

Virgil felt giddy with excitement as he shot down the streets taking whichever turns were in the direction of the church. He couldn’t have gone back if he wanted to now, too lost in an unfamiliar place.

And then, it was right in front of Virgil. The closer he got, the bigger the building grew. The doors were just as huge as the church, the biggest doors Virgil had ever seen. But they opened easily, like they were waiting for him, and Virgil stepped inside.

_ Dedicated to wherever music lives _

Virgil was immediately swarmed by a dozen or more kids, laughing and clinging to him. Logan was there, holding onto him like there was tomorrow, and Virgil did his best to grab them all back. It was the most beautiful sound Virgil had ever heard.

_ Dedicated to those tired of the same ol’ same _

People came over, and slowly the kids left. Logan told him these were the good people who were going to get everybody else. They told Virgil they were sorry they hadn’t gotten them sooner. But they had warm rooms and beds and food and they were going to make sure that everybody was safe now.

This was. . .different. An adult had never apologized to Virgil before, or promised him food and a bed like it was nothing. Virgil had never had a bed to himself before.

But they told him a church was also a sanctuary, and it was safe, and it helped people. They told him a church was the home of God, who watched over and guided all his children, and Virgil felt like maybe, he might have a real home now.

_ And dedicated to the people advancing the game _

Virgil was put in a room with four beds and Logan and two of the others. He knew they were going to be safe now, could feel that everything was going to be okay here, with these people. Virgil went to sleep that night more easily than he had in years, and the next day, he went willingly to get the rest of the kids out.

Virgil had promised them they’d get free, and they had. And now, with the world opening up around them, filled with people who wanted to help them, Virgil finally felt like he was home.


End file.
